The population of St. Lawrence County dropped by 937 people between the 2010 Census and mid-2015, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

Meanwhile tracking of migration trends indicates that the North Country is becoming slightly more international in character over time.

The Census Bureau on Thursday released its annual population estimates down to the county level across the U.S.

The full 2010 Census had the number of people in St. Lawrence County at 111,944; the bureau’s estimate as of July 1, 2015 was 111,007, a drop of less than 1 percent.

In neighboring Franklin County, just to our east, the population went from 51,599 in 2010 to 50,660 in 2015, a decrease of 939, or nearly two percent.

In Jefferson County, to our west, the Census Bureau's count was 116,229 people in 2010 and 117,635 in 2015, an increase of 1,406, or a 1 percent rise.

In St. Lawrence County, the number of births over the five years outpaced the number of deaths 6,463 to 5,370, resulting in what the Census Bureau calls a "natural increase" of 1,093.

But net migration in St. Lawrence County -- people leaving the county versus people moving in -- left us with 1,972 fewer people here. They counted 1,054 more people from outside the U.S. moving into the county over the five-year period, but that was easily outpaced by the number of people leaving the county for other parts of the U.S., or net domestic migration, at a loss of 3,026 people.

In the single year from July 1 2014 to July 1 2015, the Census Bureau estimates more births than deaths in the county, 1,194 to 1,019, a natural increase of 175, while net international migration was at +224 and domestic migration was at -1,159 over the single year.

In Franklin and Jefferson counties over the five years, the natural increases were both in positive territory, in Franklin County at 377 to the good, and in Jefferson County at plus-6,788 with more than twice as many births, at 11,491, against 4,703 deaths.

Looking at St. Lawrence, Franklin and Jefferson county figures, it is clear in our part of the North Country more people from outside the U.S. are moving here than are moving from here outside the U.S., while more people are leaving here for other parts of the U.S. than people from around the U.S. are moving here.

In Franklin County, as in St. Lawrence County, more people left than moved in: net migration was down 1,301, with net figures of 301 in international migrants moving in and 1,602 in domestic migrants moving out.

In Jefferson County, the net number of migrants in and out came out to -5,617. The Census Bureau estimates 3,551 more international migrants moved in than moved out but 9,168 more domestic migrants moved out than moved in.

Historical census data shows that St. Lawrence County first topped 100,000 residents between the 1950 and 1960 official counts, while the Seaway was being built, and has stayed between 111,000 and 115,000 since 1960.